Project 10073 Record: Incident #29 - Bakersfield, California

This document contains a collection of reports and correspondence regarding a sighting of unidentified aerial objects by Dick Rankin, an experienced pilot, on 14 June 1947 near Bakersfield, California. Rankin, who had over 7,000 hours of flight experience, reported seeing ten objects flying in a 'V' formation at approximately 8,500 feet, traveling at an estimated 350 miles per hour. Later that day, he observed seven objects in a similar formation. Rankin initially speculated that the objects might be the Navy's XF5U-1 'Flying Flapjack' aircraft, noting their round shape and lack of visible propellers or tails. However, the Navy later stated that only one such machine was built and it remained in Connecticut. The report includes a memorandum from the Fourth Air Force regarding the investigation, which also details efforts to locate a person of interest in Palm Springs, California, in connection with the incident. The official Air Force evaluation concluded that there was no evidence to refute the assumption that the objects were ordinary aircraft beyond the range of identification, noting that no other reports of the sighting were made in the Bakersfield area. The document also references other sightings, including those by Kenneth Arnold, and includes an incident index from a Project Grudge report, categorizing various sightings by their probability of being astronomical or conventional in nature. The file serves as a record of the military's attempt to reconcile civilian reports of 'flying discs' with known aviation technology and psychological factors.